Highway guard rail



Nov. 13, 1934. w. w. RUSSELL HIGHWAY GUA RD RAIL Filed Sept. 8, 1931 I N V EN TOR. W0//ace VIZ/Tune A TTORNE Y.

Patented Nov. 13, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 5 Claims.

My invention relates to highway guard rails, and more particularly to that type of guard rail which, when installed, will be resilient and thereby give under the impact of a vehicle without breaking through or snapping the posts to which it is secured.

An important feature of my device is to construct a highway guard rail composed of a number of individual sections secured at their ends to posts, and at the same time connect adjacent sections in such a manner that an impact imparted to any one of them will be in a measure absorbed by the remaining sections.

Another feature of my construction is that each section has loosely rolled or coiled ends which, when the sections are secured to supporting posts, become shock absorbers, that is, they will yield under impact so that the rolled ends will relieve the means that attach the ends to the supports from most of the impact, and therefore it follows that the supports will also be relieved from impact.

Another feature of my invention is that the sections comprising the guard are so secured to the supports that the ends of adjacent sections are spaced apart so that these ends may be connected together in such a manner as to permit individual tensioning of the members and at the same time no abrupt pockets are left to catch wheel hubs, bumper or fenders.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my highway guard rail as it appears when installed.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmental section taken on the line 22, Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a fragmental elevation of my guard rail with parts broken away and in section.

Fig. 4 is a fragmental perspective view of one of the ends of a rail section showing the rolled end.

Referring to the drawing in detail, my device consists of a plurality of strips 1 which are of uniform width and are of such material as not to deform readily. The ends of each strip are cylindrically rolled or coiled, as indicated by the vertically aligned openings 6 through which tensioning means extend.

Through the openings of adjacent rolled ends, bolts 7 extend. These bolts are provided with nuts 8 which, upon being drawn up, draw the rolls closer together and there furnish intermediate or individual tensioning means for the separate sections.

Through the openings 6 of each of the rolled portions of the end strips extend'threaded ends of a substantially V-shaped member 9. It will be especially noted from Fig. 3 that the legs of the members 9 are of different length so that no twisting pull will be imparted to the end rolls.

Located in the crotch of the V-shaped member is the eye 10 of a screw threaded rod 11 on which oneend of a turn-buckle 12 is secured. In the other end of the turn-buckle 12 is secured the screw threaded end of a rod 13 which extends into the ground and is secured to an earth anchor or a dead man. The specific manner of securing the end of the rod 13 in the ground will not be shown nor described in detail, as it forms no specific part of my invention.

In order to prevent the bolt heads and nuts from pulling through the sheets and especially those of the tensioned devices, washers 14 are employed. These washers may be in the form of strips or bars as shown in the drawing, or individual washers may be employed if desired.

The operation of my device is as follows:

A vehicle traveling along a highway leaves the road and strikes one of the rail sections. The tendency of this impact is to cause the rolled ends 2 to travel around the support with the bolts 4 as pivots and thus move these ends toward each other, but this is prevented by the bolts 7 which impart a pull on the rolls on the ends of adjacent sections. The pull on these rolled ends is transmitted through the strips to the rolls at their opposite ends and fro-m there to adjacent strips in a constantly lessening degree in both directions until it is finally imparted to the main tensioning device, and practically none of the impact is imparted to the post and at the same time the resilience of the structure will deflect the vehicle back into the road, since a vehicle will nearly always strike the guard a glancing blow. This deflection is made possible for the reason that my guard presents no projections on which a bumper, fender or hub can catch; it presents no openings into which such members can catch and hold, and, being of a substantial width, will not have a tendency to cut into a fender or vehicle body as a wire cable would. Furthermore my guard will not splinter or break like wood rails will.

It will also be noted that the rolls on the ends of the strips act as spacers holding the strips away from the supports, and if found desirable the supports may be made sufliciently high to allow additional strips to be added, thus increasing the height of the guard. In such construction one strip would be set so that the bumpers or hubs of the wheels would contact therewith and the others at such height as to prevent the vehicle from tipping over after the impact.

It is to be particularly noted that on account of the ends of the strips 1 being rolled no pockets having sharp edges are formed between adjacent strips, which would tend to catch and hold projecting parts of vehicles such as bumpers" and hub caps, but on the contraryilthe edgesjar'e rounded so that these projecting I parts I will readily slide out instead of being retained therein.

It will also be readily seen from Figs-. 2 and 3- that the rolled portions 2 are so formed that the tensio'ning means pass through two thicknesses of the strip. This is done because practically all or the strain caused by impact is exerted longi tudin'ally of the railand not laterally.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

'1. A hi'ghway guardrail including spaced supports, a plurality of metallic end and interm'e diate 'strips arranged in spaced longitudinal alignmentan-d having laterally rolled portions at their ends carried by said supports, tensioning members secured'to a roll of each of the end strips for placing said strips under tension, and means adjustably connecting adjacent rolls for individually tensioning said strips.

2. A highway guard rail including spaced supports, cooperative strips of metal having rolled end portions, adjustable means for connecting the rolled portions of adjacent strips to individually tension said strips, and means for securing said'strips to the supports.

3; A highway guard rail including spaced supports, cooperative strips of metal having rolled end portions, rigid means for adjustably connecting the rolled portions of adjacent strips, and means forindependently securing each of said rolled portions to a support.

4-. Ahighway guard rail including spaced supports, a longitudinal series of metallic strips having rolled ends forming overlying layers, rigid means extended through overlying layers in the rolled portions of adjacent strips for connecting the strips, and mear isfor'securing'each of said rolled portions to a support.

5-. A highway guard rail including spaced sup ports, a longitudinal seriesof metallic strips having rolled ends, reinforcing members positioned in said rolled ends transversely of the strips, adjustable means extended through the reinforcing members and rolled portions for-connecting ad jacent strips, and means for securing each of said rolled portions to a support;

WALLACE W. RUSSELL rod 

